Best PlacesMerrifield, MN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Merrifield, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Merrifield ranks 11,523rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Merrifield
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Merrifield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Merrifield ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
Where Merrifield ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 28% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Merrifield
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Merrifield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $78,127, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Merrifield's effective rate of 0.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Merrifield
Merrifield runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Merrifield.
Who works in Merrifield, and how
Work in Merrifield centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Merrifield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Merrifield.
What the weather is like in Merrifield, month by month
Merrifield sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 22, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22° | 13° | 5° |
| April | 53° | 41° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 57° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Merrifield
The nearest airport, Brainerd Lakes Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Merrifield
Schools across Merrifield average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eagle View ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Nisswa ElementaryA · 63% proficient
- Cuyuna Range ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Forestview MiddleA− · 54% proficient
- Pequot Lakes MiddleB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Brainerd Senior HighA− · 59% proficient
- Pequot Lakes Senior HighB · 48% proficient
- Crosby-ironton SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Merrifield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Merrifield measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Merrifield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Merrifield
Is Merrifield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Merrifield ranks 11,523rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, state infrastructure, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Merrifield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $403,321. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $78,127 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Merrifield safe?
Yes, Merrifield is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare Merrifield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Merrifield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Merrifield represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Merrifield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Merrifield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Merrifield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Merrifield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Merrifield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Merrifield detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.